A GOOD is an
object people want that they can touch or hold. A SERVICE is
an action that a person does for someone else. Examples: Goods are items you
buy, such as food, clothing, toys, furniture, and
toothpaste. Services are actions
such as haircuts, medical check-ups, mail delivery, car
repair, and teaching.
Goods are tangible objects that satisfy people’s wants.
Services are actions, such as haircuts and car repair, which also
satisfy people’s wants. A key point to emphasize to young
children is that goods and services must be produced - they
don’t appear magically on store shelves. Similarly, they are
produced using scarce productive resources (natural, human,
and capital); thus, the goods and services themselves are
considered scarce.
Depending on the grade level, it may be appropriate to teach
the distinction between consumer goods and capital goods.
Consumer goods are the “final” goods purchased by
consumers. Capital goods are those used to produce other
goods and services (e.g. tools, equipment, machinery).
A skillful teacher can use these concepts to help students
think about their futures in the world of work. Instead of asking
students what they want to be when they grow up, ask them to
identify what goods or services they might want to produce
when they grow up.
Create a collage representing goods and/or services that
families consume.
Using modeling clay, make examples of goods and of people
performing services.
Visit a local store to see how goods are marketed. Analyze
store displays, the packaging of goods, etc.
Find examples of goods and services in the yellow pages.
Draw and color pictures to accompany this title, “People
Work To Produce Goods and Services.”
Teach students how to read information labels on various
goods.
Make a large “wishing well” bulletin board. Have students
classify the things they wish for as goods or services.
Write a paragraph on “What Good or Service I Want to
Produce When I Grow Up.”
Write a paragraph entitled, “How Goods Get To the Store.” Draw a picture to accompany the paragraph.
Play the “Clap-Clap, Stomp-Stomp” game. Call out an
example of a good or service. Tell students to clap loudly
if a good, to stomp loudly if a service. (With “tongue in
cheek”, tell students you know you will stump them - you
don’t, of course, and they love it!)
Identify consumer goods and capital goods in stories, the yellow pages, or magazines.
LITERATURE
CONNECTION
You can
use the literature books below to help teach Goods and
Services. Click on the book cover or the title below
to obtain information on the book as well as guided questions you
can use with your students. Some books are no longer available
from the publishers, but we still include title information and
Lessons as you might have them in your school or public library or
possibly in your classrooms.
